Friday, October 23, 2009

The very rich and complex religion Hinduism is known as the oldest living religion or the oldest living major tradition in India. This is the world's third largest religion after Christianity and Islam.

Also known as "Sanatan Dharma" or the everlasting religion Hinduism is mainly based on the concept that human and animal spirits come back to earth to live many times in different forms. The Hindu culture is a combination of love, respect, honor.

According to Hindu religion a person is born into the higher class because he or she must have done good deeds in past life whereas a person taking birth into poverty and shame because of misdeeds in past life. Hinduism believes in the concepts of reincarnation, the caste system, merging with Brahman, finding morality, and reaching Nirvana which means the peaceful escape from the cycle of reincarnation.

Hindu religion purely beliefs that the paths to salvation include rituals, devotion and the way of knowledge. Some popular Hindu deities include Durga, Krishna, Vishnu, Shiva, Ganesha, Hanuman, Kali, Murugan, Venkateshwara, Nataraja, Rama, and Lakshmi.

The main Hindu scriptures are Sruti (what is heard), Smriti (what is remembered) the Vedas, the Brahmanas, the Upanishads, the Puranas and epics. According to Hindu religion there are 330 million Gods worshipped in various Hindu traditions.